Swept Off My Feet
by Quillical
Summary: Here she was, Asami Sato, heiress to Future Industries, rehabilitator of the entire company legacy, a heroine of the Equalist War, an accomplished, cultured, powerful woman… And here she sat, at a loss for words, gazing at the back of her hand in distilled wonder. Asami and General Iroh meet for the first time (officially) and feelings blossom.


It was a silly, foolish, _girly_ thing to do.

Here she was, Asami Sato, heiress to Future Industries, rehabilitator of the entire company legacy, a heroine of the Equalist War, an accomplished, cultured, powerful woman…

And here she sat, at a loss for words, gazing at the back of her hand in distilled wonder.

She knew she shouldn't. It wasn't worth her already sparse time to continue fondling over it like some sort of smitten schoolgirl.

Besides, she wasn't like that. Contrary to popular belief, she had never been one of those ditzy, frou-frou girls. True, she knew about make-up and took pride in her hair, but she rather loathed those who enjoyed discussing pink and gossiping while painting their nails for eighth time. No, she much preferred helping her father with his cars in his workshop, racing around the track, or touring the city on her motorcycle.

So why she had been sitting here with a dumb little smile glued to her face for ten minutes straight was beyond her.

She didn't have time for this, anyway! Running an industry, especially one whose image had taken a considerable dive (thanks to a scheming chief executive) was not easy. It wasn't exactly the most leisurely job, either – company meetings, corporate decisions, tweaking the most recent models of Satomobiles, tracking down investors – it was exhausting on the best days. Pair that with being female, relatively new to the business world, and the daughter of the criminal who had soiled the company's reputation… It was more than enough to fill a girl's schedule 24 hours a day. Oh, and then there was her involvement in the Avatar's group/council thing… it took up the remainder of her time, but it was definitely the highlight of her life right now.

In fact, it was at this most recent meeting where she was formally introduced to him. It was the first official gathering after the initial craziness of the Equalist war had begin to wear off. They had worked side by side during some of the of the strategy talk, battles, and aftermath, but it wasn't until the end of the meeting when it somehow came out that Asami didn't really have a clear idea of who this man was.

Korra, being the avatar, did the honors. "Asami, this is General Iroh, Commander of the United Forces, First Division. General Iroh, this is Asami Sato, President of Future Industries."

Now, it wasn't as if she hadn't seen him before (it's hard not to when the man is single handedly taking down an entire armada of aircraft). Ever since he arrived she had been aware of his existence. But now that she had the chance to fully take in his appearance, Asami was surprised to discover that he was quite different up close.

For one thing, he was tall. Not that Asami wasn't used to this; Mako had been tall, and she had simply gotten used to it – but she was sure that Mako had never stood so straight, with shoulders back and chest out, hands clasped crisply behind his back, nor had this stance been so natural, inherent, as if it were simply routine. This perfect posture alone made the General seem twice as tall and utterly indomitable. The military uniform only added to his aura of power – clean, well-fitted, and distinguished, even after having seen the heatof battle. This man in uniform was more than intimidating, Asami decided - he was downright daunting.

At least, that _was_ what she had decided – until she saw his face.

It was well defined, with a chiseled jaw that only the prices in Asami's imagination had, that she'd never thought actually worked on anyone until now. His face was not youthful, as a teenager's might be, but mature without looking ancient. Everything was perfectly proportioned, from his nose to his bodied black hair, combed and shining. Such a handsome yet hard face would have made Asami recoil in alarm, had it not been for the honest smile softening his face to the point where it was practically glowing. And his eyes… amber, and striking, with just a hint of mischief behind his seemingly indifferent façade.

And right then, as they locked eyes for what seemed like the first time, his sturdy yet gentle gaze holding her own for a moment longer than usual…

She wondered why she had never noticed her before.

"Miss Sato…" The General started. _His voice is much deeper than I remember._

General Iroh paused, taking Asami's hand and bowing low – lower than most, barely lifting her hand. His eyes, however, stayed trained on hers, his captivating smile causing her heart to suddenly go into palpitations she couldn't explain.

With his lips just inches from her hand, the General spoke again: "It is a pleasure to meet you." Gingerly, almost reverently, the General leaned bowed the rest of the way. Their eyes lost contact for only three seconds - the time it took for Iroh to gently kiss the back of her hand.

His lips hovered over the back of her hand for the tiniest moment, invisible to anyone else except the two of them. With that, Iroh stood back up, returning to his stoic stature; Asami, however, was still frozen, gazing up at the first man who had made her genuinely speechless.

So here she was, home after the meeting, with a million and two other things on her to do list that she could be accomplishing, and unable to budge from this spot or wipe the wonderstruck smile from her face. The spot his lips had touched on her hand still tingled, and her fluttering heartbeat never did quite go away. Even as she scrutinized the back of her hand for the hundredth time, every detail of the encounter came back – the smile, those mischievous amber eyes, the fragile air that was never shattered, but that excited her all the same… the whole thing made her feel nervous, giddy, and altogether swept off her feet.

Come to think of it, it had been a while since she had felt like that.

Asami gave up trying to suppress the grin that fought to surface and allowed the beaming expression to spread across her entire face.

_Just this once, _Asami thought to herself,_ maybe "girly" is okay..._


End file.
